Report finds region is making progress on air quality and renewable energy, but daily waste and vehicle transportation are challenges

A new report shows the overall quality of life in San Diego County is rising, but optimism about the future is tempered by ongoing challenges with affordable housing, waste generation, traffic and other recurring problems.

A “mixed bag of progress and decline” means “we remain a region at risk,” according to the third annual Quality of Life Dashboard, the most comprehensive assessment of its kind for the region. Of 14 categories measured, seven were trending up, six down and one was split.

The report is published by the Equinox Center in Encinitas, a small, nonpartisan think tank founded in 2008 that is backed by several local companies, trusts and individual donors. It applies statistical analysis to a mix of environmental and economic elements that help assess regional topics such as green energy generation, air pollution, clean-tech jobs and water consumption.

The Equinox Center on Tuesday invited more than 100 elected officials and other regional leaders to discuss its latest findings in hopes of making the issues an important element in local elections this fall.

“Last year, the environmental indicators were doing a little bit better. People had really tightened their belts in terms of consumption, traveling and things like that,” said Ann Tartre, executive director of the Equinox Center. “The challenge is to figure out how to be more efficient with our resources while at the same time spurring economic growth.”

Tartre is upbeat about the region’s prospects for avoiding a “business-as-usual” approach. “We are seeing a lot of innovation in the region, and in fact, the economic downturn seems to have spurred a lot of innovation in public-private partnerships.”

Besides addressing various environmental challenges, the dashboard provided a reminder that the region’s economic picture remains unsettled. “Over the last decade, San Diego has increased the number of jobs in lower-paying sectors such as leisure, hospitality and food services, and lost jobs in mid-high-paying sectors,” said the report.